SEAN Dyche is unsure whether Steven Defour will return before the end of the season after confirming the midfielder needed an operation on his knee.

Scans have revealed the 29-year-old requires surgery on a cartilage problem which will sideline him for at least a couple of months.

Dyche said the loss of the influential Belgian, who has been one of Burnley’s best players this season, was a ‘real blow’.

It could also end Defour’s chances of featuring in Belgium’s World Cup squad and Dyche admitted the injury had ‘come out of the blue’.

“Defour will have to have an operation after seeing a specialist, it’s a real blow,” the Clarets chief said.

“It’s come out of the blue, he’d been playing on and felt a soreness in his knee, he played with it for a few weeks.

“We took him for a scan, one of those ones you probably wish you wouldn’t have now, and it showed something that needs doing, it’s a bit of cartilage. That’s the way it goes.”

Asked if Defour would return before the end of the season, Dyche added: “I don’t know yet, we’ll have to wait and see.”

James Tarkowski also missed Burnley’s 1-1 draw at Newcastle with a groin problem, but Dyche is hopeful of better news on the centre back.

“Tarky we’re a lot more hopeful on, we’re hoping his will settle down sooner rather than later. It’s a groin situation, hopefully that will settle,” he said.

“Stephen Ward is making very good progress now, but he needs some match time, Chris Wood is making good progress again so hopefully that will be in a straight line now and we’ll get him back. The others are pretty long-term.”

The loss of Tarkowski only made Burnley’s need to bring in a centre back more pressing, but Dyche said the Clarets wouldn’t be held to ransom over any deals as the club walked away from attempts to sign Nottingham Forest’s Joe Worrall and Arsenal’s Rob Holding in the final two days of the window.

“There was a couple of situations we thought might come our way, but the market is tough, we all know that,” he said.

“We are what we are, everyone knows that, we have to run the club in an appropriate manner and that’s what we chose to do and that makes it difficult.

“There’s certain situations where the money goes up and up and up and eventually you have to say no, not for us. It is what it is, we move forward.

“But I’m pleased with the other bits of business with Aaron (Lennon) and GK (Nkoudou) coming in.”